Chapter 228: Kid, I Really Admire You!
Kitsuchi of Iwagakure. His name was indeed long-famous. He was hailed as the greatest Earth Style ninja second only to the Third Tsuchikage, his mastery of the art having reached a state of divinity.
And this man was in his prime…
At the very least, Kisame Hoshigaki had no confidence that he could defeat Kitsuchi.
However, for Onoki to send both his son and his prized disciple to the Hidden Rain Village, it seemed he took the recent upheaval very seriously… And he had no choice but to!
A few years ago, Konoha had just incorporated the Land of Grass into its sphere of influence, and this year it had set its sights on the Land of Rain. Was Hiruzen Sarutobi trying to… build on the legacy of three generations and unify the ninja world?
"Earth Style: Earth Moving Core!"
"Wood Style: Wood Pillar Technique!"
The ninjas of Iwagakure and Konoha each showed a hand in front of the other, working together to build a simple negotiation table. The Wood Style ninja clearly opened the eyes of the Iwa-nin…
The young Konoha squad leader glanced at the slightly proud expression on his teammate Yamato's face. What's there to be proud of, using Wood Style to make a few benches?
Deidara sat down, propping his chin on his hand irritably, and said with a pout, "Hurry up and start! It's not like you'll agree on anything anyway. In the end, won't it be up to me to go all out!"
"My apologies, please excuse his rudeness."
The tall and sturdy Kitsuchi rubbed Deidara's hair and said softly, "Both of our sides understand that the result depends solely on the negotiations between Iwagakure and Konoha."
Small ninja villages were generally destined to be dominated by the Five Great Ninja Villages. During the period when the Hidden Rain was ruled by Pain, they had some confidence to flip the table, but now even the ninjas who were supposed to be at the negotiation table had been casually killed by Deidara.
Itachi Uchiha thought to himself that from Kitsuchi's words, Onoki's son should be an honest person. The way everyone treated small ninja villages was essentially the same, but one still had to maintain a certain degree of decency.
"And what if we don't agree to the outcome of your talks?" Kisame Hoshigaki suddenly threw his Samehada greatsword onto the table. After sitting down, he grinned.
The influence of two great ninja villages was something Iwagakure couldn't ignore, right?
"The Hidden Mist Village has been following Konoha's lead for these past few years…" Kitsuchi didn't even look at Kisame, but stared intently at the young Konoha Jonin. "Since it's a resolution that Konoha can pass, the Hidden Mist Village should comply, right?"
Itachi Uchiha: "…"
Oho… a divisive tactic! Kitahara taught me this!
Essentially, the Hidden Mist Village did follow Konoha's lead, but to say it so bluntly was an insult to the entire Hidden Mist Village and could even affect the relationship between the Mist and Konoha!
As expected, of those who could sit in a high position in a great nation's ninja village, few were simple ninjas… probably only their Konoha's First Hokage was a brainless one.
Kisame Hoshigaki, on the other hand, was unconcerned. He scanned the people from Iwagakure and revealed his full set of shark teeth. "…Heh heh… since you already know, let's just get started!"
"…"
Kitsuchi was stunned for a moment, his expression finally changing slightly. It's unknown what sort of nonsense his brain had just cooked up, but it was probably about the firm alliance between Konoha and the Hidden Mist.
However, the geographical locations of the Hidden Mist and Iwagakure were very delicate.
Not only were they separated by mountains and seas, but also by the entire Land of Fire and a bunch of small countries. Unless the higher-ups of the Mist were collectively insane, they would not launch a thankless attack on Iwagakure.
After a long sigh, Kitsuchi stated his demand. "Konoha ninjas must withdraw from the Hidden Rain Village and guarantee the independence of the Hidden Rain and the Land of Rain. This is Iwagakure's bottom line. If Konoha continues to invade surrounding small ninja villages, we will not rule out the use of war…"
The higher-ups of Iwa were not like that group of dehydrated Sand-nin, demanding land and reparations from the most powerful ninja village in the ninja world. That was giving the other party a blatant pretext for war!
As for guaranteeing the independence of the Hidden Rain, that was pure nonsense. When did a small ninja village ever have the qualification to be independent and autonomous?
The geographical location of the Land of Rain was special, situated in the center of three great nations. It was an excellent buffer zone and could also serve as a forward base for attacking an enemy country.
"Konoha has never invaded any ninja village…"
The Uchiha, who had undergone the Second Hokage's special political training, spoke eloquently to Kitsuchi. "This is a misunderstanding. We are just a squad that came to the Hidden Rain Village to carry out a reconnaissance mission…"
"And the closed-off Hidden Rain Village was being occupied and ruled by the Akatsuki, an organization composed of rogue ninjas from various countries. Helping small ninja villages gain independence has always been a long-standing responsibility of our Konoha…"
"We have just driven the dark regime of the Akatsuki out of the Hidden Rain Village and were planning to withdraw when we heard that members of the Akatsuki are still trying to subvert the Rain…"
Kitsuchi was momentarily at a loss for words. "…"
This little fellow is pretty good at spouting official-sounding nonsense!
Why does it sound like he's even better at BS-ing than I am!
The Akatsuki had always had a close cooperative relationship with Iwagakure. His father, the Third Tsuchikage, had made no small use of the Akatsuki to carry out war missions, but they were truly unaware that the Akatsuki had occupied the Hidden Rain Village.
"We have not deployed spies in the Hidden Rain Village, so we have not received any news about the Akatsuki. It was only after the Rain Village opened up to the outside during this period that we obtained some intelligence…"
Kitsuchi looked at the few Konoha ninjas before him and said in a gruff voice, "We just want to know, how long will it take for you Konoha to withdraw from the Hidden Rain Village…"
"Uncertain…" Itachi Uchiha shook his head gently and said slowly, "Because we need to check if any Akatsuki members have been left behind…"
BAM!
Before Kitsuchi could figure out how to rebut, Deidara beside him slammed a fist on the table. "What 'hunting the Akatsuki'! It's just one line over and over! You Konoha ninjas just don't want to leave!"
The blonde youth suddenly leaned forward,趴 on the table, and stared intently into Itachi Uchiha's eyes. "Can't you think of any other excuses?"
"…One good reason is enough…"
The young Konoha Jonin spread his hands innocently. "If you want more reasons, we can also say that spies from the Sand Village want to subvert the Rain, and spies from the Stone Village want to subvert the Rain…"
The blonde youth pouted, then after a moment, cursed resentfully, "…Shameless!"
Deidara's life experience was too simple; he hadn't seen much of the world…
At the negotiation table, it clearly seemed that the Iwa ninjas were in the right, and the Konoha ninjas were the aggressors. Yet Itachi Uchiha was unmovable, stubbornly clinging to the reason of 'hunting the Akatsuki'…
Blatantly occupying the Hidden Rain Village…
Compared to the well-traveled Itachi Uchiha and Kitsuchi, Deidara was practically a pure white lotus flower…
The blonde youth gritted his teeth and grabbed the clay from his ninja tool pouch, stuffing it into the mouth on his palm. "Uncle Kitsuchi, stop talking to them! Let me blow them up!"
"Deidara! Stop…"
Just as Kitsuchi was about to reach out and stop the impulsive blonde youth, a small Tailed Beast Bomb suddenly shot through the gap between his and Deidara's seats…
BOOM!
The ground trembled ceaselessly…
A mushroom cloud rose from the distance. The high mountains there were flattened, and lava bubbled up to form a small river, flooding the nearby land…
A pitch-black crow flapped its wings and landed on the young Konoha Jonin's shoulder, leaning down to accept a cookie from Itachi…
The shark-faced youth watched this scene, a low chuckle escaping him. He looked at the dumbfounded Deidara and said calmly, "Art is an explosion… Kid, I really admire that phrase of yours."
"Greatly… admire."
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